The American auto industry is….. up the creek without a paddle. The two major publicly traded players, Ford and GM created some value for themselves about 10 years ago but have since lost it all. We have all heard stories about this type of restructuring or this plant closure and so on. Over the past 19 years Ford has lost 77% of its value while GM has lost a dismal 92% of their worth (google finance). It is time for a change in Canada and this recession is when it should happen.

Canada has managed to keep itself relatively shielded from these bad times; however, just because our fiscally tight-assed government managed to keep us out of the initial fire, doesn’t mean we’re entirely safe. The reality of the matter is that if the US’s economy keeps sucking we will be hit hard. Not because of our stupid lending habits, but because of our poor foresight and lack of initiative. I am talking about our complacency and our mentality that we are fine coasting off the US’s success. So what does the recession have to do with cars you ask?

One of the more publicized US TARP bail-out spending initiatives is the) $25 billion going to the “Big 3” auto manufacturers. Not wanting to get political and not being directly affected by these terrible car companies folding, I say screw them. But alas, I am not here to debate that and it looks like they’re getting the billions for running terrible companies anyways. So, on we go. With this $25 billion from the US government the “Big 3” will also be required to make some changes according to what bailoutpackage stipulates. The bailout requires work to be done in the US and not shipped abroad, (ie making American cars in Canada will be highly frowned upon). So depending on how bad things get, chances are even with money from the Canadian government (a planned $4 billion), Canadian plants will continue to close, not only because of money but because of politics too.

This is where a little creativity (and yes, it is only a little) comes into play. Instead of spending $4 billion to save some junk that is probably going to sink to the bottom of the toilet anyways, why don’t we let the plants close? Let a Canadian company buy the plants (with $4 billion in government aid) and do something useful with them, like build good Canadian cars! There is no reason that any of the “Big 3” are needed in Canada and it’s almost nice of them to give us a fighting chance to compete by abandoning/selling their Canadian plants. The American manufacturers have no material/manufacturing advantages over a Canadian counterpart; as a huge portion of raw materials and cars are already built/come directly from Canada. Not to mention our superior efficiency. The “Big 3” don’t have any human resource advantages over a Canadian competitor as everyone in Canada knows our education system is hardly second to the US. As for experience, we will have thousands of recently laid off workers hungry to put the screws to their old employer.

Another big kicker that I just realized now is that we are the only country in the G8 that doesn’t have their own car. When it comes to resources and capabilities, we should be leading the field. Also, wouldn’t it be nice to have something that Canada’s known for other than the Blackberry and maple syrup…. eh…..?